Harry Redknapp has confirmed that he was alerted to Van der Vaart's potential availability at around 1600 BST by his chairman Daniel Levy and hopes to have registered the required documents with the Premier League in time to complete the deal.

It is reported that the Premier League will take a decision on whether the deal was processed in time on Wednesday.

Van der Vaart, 27, played in Netherlands' defeat to Spain in the World Cup final but has been unable to secure a senior role in the Real side since joining the club from Hamburg in the summer of 2008.

"It's still dragging on," Redknapp told Sky Sports News. "We have been trying to do something. We are just waiting for some clearance.

"I think he was going to Bayern Munich yesterday for £18 million. He is available now for about £8 million and we thought for that amount of money he is a top player.

"I'm hopeful, it could happen, honestly I wouldn't like to say one way or the other. It was a last-minute job. It's round about £8 million."

Redknapp also confirmed that Spurs did show a tentative interest in Liverpool forward Ryan Babel. He said: "We were interested in Ryan Babel, he was a player we made an enquiry for, but it never got that close. We didn't try for anything else."

Tottenham are also making preparations for next January, with SuperSport United captain Bongani Khumalo saying he could join the club after a successful trial.

The 23-year-old, one of the stars of South Africa's home World Cup, said: "I enjoyed my trial with Spurs and all I can say is that, at this stage, the deal is pending and an announcement will be made later."

Khumalo's business manager Glyn Binkin said: "At this stage, absolutely nothing has been finalised and discussions are ongoing between representatives of the various parties, namely Spurs, SuperSport United and the player regarding a possible move for Bongani Khumalo to Spurs.''